Ten Ways to Take Care of You in 2013

Many of our lives are centered on taking care of the needs of everyone around us aside from ourselves. We are running around taking care of kids, our bosses, our husbands/wives, pets, friends, co-workers, parents etc. Sometimes the responsibilities we have in life feel like an overwhelming burden. Because of all of these responsibilities we end up forgetting to have fun and to enjoy life. We cater to being responsible before we cater to being happy. There needs to be an established balance between both. Taking care of ourselves doesn’t have to be a chore, an obligation or something that is experienced as yet another burden. To follow are ten simple ways to take care of yourself.

10 ways to take care of you!

1) Go outside. Exercise, take a walk, go to the beach/pool, hike or whatever appeals to you. Get some fresh air. Fresh air fills us up with a fresh new look on life. Getting outside allows for a state of relaxed contemplation. It serves as a release from all the pressures we sometimes feel trying to be everything to everyone.

2) Alone time. Make sure each day to get at least 30 minutes of alone time. Whether you get this time at your lunch break, a half hour before bed or 30 minutes in the morning before everyone else gets up. Time alone is detoxing and reparative.

3) Ignite your Creativity; whatever ignites your creative juices from writing, reading, creating something, cooking, working on a car, building something, sewing, art. Being creative lets us know we are alive and passionate.

4) Spend time with friends. There is nothing better than a nice break from life’s responsibilities than spending time with people we love and who make us feel free. Bonding is one of the healthiest ways to take care of ourselves.

5) Take a nap. A 20 minute nap is said to be totally rejuvenating for the whole physical, emotional, and mental system. If you can fit it into to your day I highly recommend it.

6) Go shopping. Getting something new often brings light and excitement into our life. We all need to reward ourselves for our hard work.

7) Connect spiritually. In whatever way works for you, enlivening your spiritual life can make you feel more connected to the process your life is taking. To have a firm belief that all is happening as it should be will help to relax a stressed mind.

8) Get a massage. Touch is healing and a great way to reduce stress and love ourselves.

9) Eat healthy. There is something about eating healthy that makes us feel as if we are headed in the right direction and that we have a sense of control over our circumstances. Eating healthy is a powerful choice in the direction of self love.

10) Turn off your cell phone for a few hours. It is incredibly healthy to be able to just disconnect from the social and internet world.

I encourage everyone to follow these steps and whatever steps come to mind as you read this list. You each have a knowing from within of what makes you feel good and which people, events and circumstances bring you joy. It is so easy to get overwhelmed in the world of responsibility only to lose sight of the basic reasons for living. You are here to feel happy as much as you can, to focus more on your pleasure than your pain, and to feel the fruits of your labor on an emotional (not just a financial) level. Your life experiences are dictated by how you feel emotionally. Due to this reality you must make a conscious effort to take care of how you are feeling. If you veer off into the negative, never-ending feeling of responsibility, you have to recalibrate and take some action to take care of yourself. You deserve it.

Little life Message: Choose to be the best caretaker of you.

Dr. Sherrie Campbell is an author and a licensed Psychologist with more than nineteen years of clinical training and experience. She provides practical tools to help people overcome obstacles to self-love and truly achieve an empowered life. She is a featured expert on a variety of national websites and has a successful practice in Southern California. For articles and to purchase her new book Loving Yourself: The Mastery of Being Your Own Person see her Yourtango home page or visit www.sherriecampbellphd.com.